The First 4-H DPA Weekend...

Bailey had his first 4-H DPA (District Project Achievement) this past weekend. He's in the Jr. division (for lack of a better word?) because he's in 8th grade. He has been really working on hard his project, which was Better Breakfast. He had to prep, cook and present a healthy breakfast. He chose breakfast burritos, which had to be made with egg substitute and turkey ham, as well as lowfat cheese, bell peppers and green onions. He also had a zesty sauce for the burrito, which was made of salsa and nonfat plain yogurt. He chose to make his burritos with whole wheat tortillas, and serve them with a side of sliced apples and some orange juice. He had to take allllll of his ingredients with him, as well as allllll of his kitchen utensils/pans/tools/tableware. He couldn't pre-chop or pre-prep anything. He had to do it all on site, and he had exactly 1 hour, from the time he opened the fridge to when he had to have it plated for the judges.

He has been working really hard on this since October or so. Practicing and making this for us (lemme me tell ya...at one point the hubs and I thought there was NO way we would ever eat another breakfast burrito, lol) over and over. 

Friday, when it was time to drop him off to ride with the other 4-H'ers (btw, there were 8 total from our county, but Bailey was the only one from the homeschool 4-H club), he had a bad case of nerves/cold feet and did not want to get in that van. I pushed, and felt guilty as hell for doing so, but he went. And overall ended up having a blast this weekend. Met some new friends, had a lot of laughs and really had a fabulous time.

Oh...and how did he do for the competition/demonstration?

FIRST PLACE!!!!!

I went up to watch the demonstration, but they didn't announce how everyone did until later that night in an assembly. The hubs and I were grocery shopping when Bailey called to tell us how he did. You would have loved watching me walk all over Ingles with the proud-mommy sobs. :D

What's even better than all of us being proud of Bailey? Bailey is so proud of himself! He's known since he was five years old that he wanted to be a chef. We've even already priced tuition at Le Cordon Bleu (Gasp! Ack!). Seeing him excel and be recognized for doing something that he wants so badly to do with his life...it's such a wonderful thing!

Last week involved so much prep and practice for 4-H, that it feels like there wasn't a lot of anything else going on, lol. This week will be better. I'm still down to two days a week at the office. That's nice!

I'm going to try and squeeze in some worksheets for Braeden. We're finally seeing improvement in his handwriting, and I don't want to backslide by forcing him to do handwriting worksheets. When I force him to do handwriting worksheets, he rebels and I yell and we both end up crying in a corner. He enjoys the free online puzzles (like the word search) at SpellingCity. Fortunately, there are printable versions of those too. Hopefully those will be well received...

Bailey and I are going to try and start (yes, start - UGH!) looking for a high school homeschool curriculum that we both want to try. We have used T4L for so long, it sucks even thinking about transitioning away from it. :( At least we are in a better place now, than we first started homeschooling. We know that we can piece together several programs/curricula/methods, and while it's stressful to think about high school, it's not as stressful as trying to find that very first homeschool program. 

Other than that, I don't know what the week holds for us. The boys and I have Friday off so we can go see a performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and take a stroll through the High Museum of Art. Woot! We did this last year, with Master's, and we're very excited that it worked out so we could do it again this year. :D

Okey Dokey. Getting off here now...going to go cuddle with the kiddos a bit, and maybe fit in an episode of The Following. Have a great week, errbody!